Brussels and the Irish govt want to keep NI in the customs union and Single market to protect the GFA and avoid a hard border. The UK govt doesn't want this because it is dependent on the DUP for its majority. The DUP would pauperise its own people.

This is it in a nutshell. The next few weeks are critical in the history of this island. The current Tory Government is the worst in my lifetime, I feel sorry for the PM as she is clearly out of her depth but she is dependant on the DUP to save her. The same DUP whose political analysis and vision is being laid bare at the opening days of the RHI Inquiry, expertly summarised by Conor McAuley on BBC. So if David Davis maintains his position of no boundary or border in the UK we are headed for No Deal, Hard Brexit and economic disaster for both jurisdictions in Ireland.If anyone on here has any contact with someone in the DUP who has any sense, ask them if they really want this to happen ? Or is Lisa Evans the official spokesperson for progressive unionism?

Brussels and the Irish govt want to keep NI in the customs union and Single market to protect the GFA and avoid a hard border. The UK govt doesn't want this because it is dependent on the DUP for its majority. The DUP would pauperise its own people.

This is it in a nutshell. The next few weeks are critical in the history of this island. The current Tory Government is the worst in my lifetime, I feel sorry for the PM as she is clearly out of her depth but she is dependant on the DUP to save her. The same DUP whose political analysis and vision is being laid bare at the opening days of the RHI Inquiry, expertly summarised by Conor McAuley on BBC. So if David Davis maintains his position of no boundary or border in the UK we are headed for No Deal, Hard Brexit and economic disaster for both jurisdictions in Ireland.If anyone on here has any contact with someone in the DUP who has any sense, ask them if they really want this to happen ? Or is Lisa Evans the official spokesperson for progressive unionism?

The UK has gone from Empire to.suicidal and alone in 72 years. NHS demand has grown by 4% a year for the last 7 years. Funding has increased by 1% per year. Salaries are 15% below 2007 levels after inflation. The UK exports 40% of its stuff to the EU and has no replacement lined up.Unionist hatred of Irishness doesn't just stop at the language. It encompasses the whole worldview including economics. The DUP is insane.

Brussels and the Irish govt want to keep NI in the customs union and Single market to protect the GFA and avoid a hard border. The UK govt doesn't want this because it is dependent on the DUP for its majority. The DUP would pauperise its own people.

This is it in a nutshell. The next few weeks are critical in the history of this island. The current Tory Government is the worst in my lifetime, I feel sorry for the PM as she is clearly out of her depth but she is dependant on the DUP to save her. The same DUP whose political analysis and vision is being laid bare at the opening days of the RHI Inquiry, expertly summarised by Conor McAuley on BBC. So if David Davis maintains his position of no boundary or border in the UK we are headed for No Deal, Hard Brexit and economic disaster for both jurisdictions in Ireland.If anyone on here has any contact with someone in the DUP who has any sense, ask them if they really want this to happen ? Or is Lisa Evans the official spokesperson for progressive unionism?

Don’t know what age you are but the early 1980s were desperate times. Both UK and Eire have had a few prosperous decades since then, undoubtedly as a result of the common market. The UK population - and arguably that of ROI - are fed up with the freedom of movement of labour. For NI to remain in the single market is non-negotiable. Custom unions have always been an accounting exercise and understandably that’s why Remainer May is trying to argue that the Brexit bill of £Xm can’t be agreed until the future trade arrangements are agreed. The DUP are only a temporary distraction, we’re already in the midst of a cliff-edge Brexit. It may take a Johnson/Gove/Leadsom leadership to lead the British people where they really want to go. Or perhaps Nigel Dodds given that gushing praise last week..

Britain is drifting towards disaster on Brexit — without a viable diplomatic, economic or political strategy to make a success of the venture. The central problem is that the British government is stuck between an implacable EU and an unrealistic Conservative party. The EU will not offer anything like the deal that Britain’s Brexiters still dream of. But Theresa May’s Conservative colleagues are still unprepared to accept this unpleasant reality. In this paralysing situation, it seems increasingly likely the UK government will simply be politically and technically incapable of delivering a negotiated Brexit. As a result, the likeliest outcome is that, late in the day — perhaps in January 2019 — the EU will present Britain with a “take it or leave it” deal.

The EU side can also credibly argue that the political disarray in Britain is such that making a deal with the May government could turn out to be pointless. On the surface, the British government has a clear position on most of the key issues. The May government has offered to pay the EU €20bn as part of the divorce settlement. It has also said that Britain plans eventually to leave both the EU’s internal market and the customs union, but that there should be a transition arrangement of about two years, during which a new free trade deal is put into place. But these positions could still change radically in response to events. If, as seems likely, Mrs May is forced to increase considerably the UK’s financial offer to the EU, it is possible that she will face a revolt from within her own party — and could lose her House of Commons majority, and possibly her job. On the other hand, if she hangs tough on the money and allows negotiations to break down, then she may face a similarly dangerous revolt from appalled Remainers.

I can't believe how shoddy the Eurosceptics are. Brexit is a dogs dinner.

No one expected middle England to shoot itself in the foot, even the brexiteers were in shock when they no hence no coherent plan and leadership to carry it through.

You wonder what a referendum held today would say? I personally think there would be about a 10% swing to remain. The good old British Middle class arrogance of "We're British, they need us more than we need them etc etc" has been firmly put in its place by the EU negotiators and the Xenophobic Sun Readers worried about their benefits going to immigrants are moaning because their package holiday to Magaluf has got more expensive because of the sterling devaluation.